We loaded up and headed off on our annual Christmas road trip on December 21. None of us were very excited to spend 50+ hours in the truck over the next two weeks but we all agree that it's worth it to see and spend Christmas with so much family. The drive was pretty rough with Grace though. She was just barely walking and did NOT want to be strapped into a car seat for hours at a time. We took a lot more breaks than we normally do and spent a significant amount of time wandering gas stations to let Grace stretch her legs. Alan drove most of the way so Spencer and I took turns sitting by and trying to entertain Grace. It wasn't an easy task and we both got rather short-tempered at times. I'm still glad we made the trip but am relieved that Grace will be a little older and hopefully easier for our next road trip.
Unfortunately, Grace started teething as soon as we got to SJ and kept Alan and I up for many hours during almost every night we were there. It was pretty miserable and hard to keep her quiet so she didn't wake up the entire house.
Tuesday was Christmas Eve. The warm sunshine felt amazing! Dad took Spencer, Mason and I out to the Little Resi. I hadn't been there since I was a kid. Spencer skipped a bunch of rocks and Mason had fun exploring and collecting about a million rocks. I wish I had taken a picture of his bulging pockets that were threatening to pull down his shorts! Haha! Grace LOVED having lots of room inside and outside of the house to practice her new walking skills and explore. It made me sad that our house is so small.
Bob and Susan joined us for our Christmas Eve program. Why didn't I take a picture of them?! Michelle joined Lindsey in her first ever piano duet! Spencer and Mason both played songs they had learned for their recital. And, Lindsey serenaded us with "I Farted on Santa's Lap." Dad was sure laughing hard but I could just imagine his mom rolling over in her grave with that one. Haha!
Christmas morning was about the same as always with some great gifts, delicious cinnamon rolls, and good family time. Spencer's present pile from Santa was small but he got a new Garmin GPS watch and was happy. Mason was most excited about a Star Wars Lego set, Star Wars bey blades from Spencer, and an Under Armor hoodie. Grace loved playing with the ribbons and bows more than her presents. We got her a tiny bike that I knew she would eventually love. (It took about 4 months before she had much interest in it and then she really did love it!)
As a nod to her mission days in England, Lindsey brought Christmas crackers for us to open before Christmas dinner. Spencer liked his mini basketball game. Then we had a yummy ham dinner. Well, everything except for the rolls I made was yummy. I used the wrong kind of flour from Mom and Dad's pantry and it was rancid. Yuck! I redeemed myself with a new batch of rolls with good flour the next day though. :)
Marc and Amber joined us the next day. (Their kids had met up with their bio dad's side of the family for a few days.) I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the newest couple in the family! Marc had our family's name for Christmas and got us all Boxbollen. It was pretty funny and harder than it looks. We didn't have time to decorate gingerbread houses before Christmas this year so we did it a couple of days after. Still fun!
Both of the boys needed haircuts so I had asked Amber ahead of time if she would give me a lesson while we were there. She was so sweet and was happy to do it. She did a great job and gave me some good tips, but I could have used about 10 of those lessons for them to really stick. Mason had been refusing a haircut for awhile but Amber managed to convince him to just let her shape it a little. That was a win!
Katelyn's family came down and we got to spend our last day with them. Mason and John get along well together now and they were both bummed that they didn't get to play together more. They started building a cool fort down by the firepit together.
Goodbyes are the worst! We always try to take a picture with Mom and Dad before heading out and then I fight back tears as we drive out of town. It stinks to live so far away. Thanks for another wonderful Christmas Mom and Dad! We love you!
Katelyn and Zac were so kind to let us stay at their house even though they were still in SJ on our way back up. We made a detour to Pocatello the next day to meet up with Grace's birth mother, Lily. In a surprising turn of events, Heidi had contacted Mason by phone and by email within the past two weeks so he felt ok about us visiting Lily but didn't want to be part of the visit himself. Lauren was amazing and agreed to host Spencer and Mason for a couple of hours while Alan, Grace and I attended the visit.
We were happy to visit Lily for Grace's and her sake, but were very nervous because she had invited her to the meeting even after we had told her we weren't comfortable with that. All we knew about Lily's dad was that he had a history of being volatile and that he had been very against Lily placing Grace for adoption. Lily said he was supportive now but we had no idea how he might act during a visit so we told her we could meet for about an hour in a public place. Alan and I both considered backing out the night before but we both prayed and received an answer of peace that things would be ok and that we needed to give Lily's dad a chance. Nevertheless, I was relieved when Lily suggested meeting at a mall because malls have security guards who could help us if the need arose.
We made sure to arrive a few minutes early so we could explain the situation to the security guard and ask for his help. The mall was very quiet that morning so he was more than happy to hang around and be close by if we needed him. Thankfully, we didn't!
Lily wound up coming with her dad, Shane, his girl friend, Tonya, and their?/her? two kids, Kyle, and Hannah. They were clearly people who live a very different lifestyle than we do but were nothing but kind and interested in getting to know Grace and meeting Alan and I. They all called her Angelina which is totally fine since that's who she is to them. Lily, Dannon and Grace lived with them for a week or so after being released from the hospital. The kids were especially cute with her. Shane asked if it would be ok for Lily to keep him informed about how Grace was doing and was excited to pass on pictures of ancestors and some basic family history someday. That would be amazing if it ever actually happens!
Despite our fears, the visit turned out to be very good and Alan and I were both so glad we went ahead with it.
Spencer and Mason had a grand time with Lauren and her large crew of kids! They ate lunch, played board games and then went to the nearby church building for volleyball. Lauren has such a fun family and I wish we lived close enough to see them more often. Thank you Lauren!
We headed back to Alan's parent's house that afternoon (New Year's Eve). Geoff's family came back over for dinner and games. We had intended to stay for New Year's Day to spend time with them and so Alan could watch football, but a large snow storm changed those plans. To be continued...
